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Title Blocks


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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Title Blocks! What about them is good? What about them is bad? We are considering some significant changes to how the Sheet Border/Title Block tools function and would like your input.

 

The following items have already been put forward as areas for improvement, either from internal feedback or feedback pulled from posts here:

 

1) Name the "Sheet Border" tool simply: "Title Block" since that's what it mainly does.

2) Move less commonly used parameters off of the OIP to reduce clutter, but move more commonly used settings from the dialog into the OIP.

3) Allow multi-line and automatically wrapping text fields.

4) Provide a preview window for Title Block Settings edits similar to Door, Window and Space Label previews.

5) Improve Issue Data and Revision Data entry. (Controls for numbering, increments, spacing and number of items shown)

 

There are other items we are considering as well, but the above seem to be the core focus. However, I would like to hear if anything significant was missed or if these areas are indeed what should be focused on. Thank you!

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Yes to all of the above. A few more things:

 

6) You should be able to right click a Title Block object and have the option to "Edit Title Block Symbol" - I often want to edit the original geometry in my Title Block and this would be faster than finding it manually in the Resource Browser. I'm sure some people rarely change the original geometry once their Title Block is set up, but the projects I do are so diverse that I often need to alter the Symbol itself, not just the content of the fields. (A simple example is sticking a show logo into the Title Block for each different production.)

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Last one for now - less important, but could be helpful:

 

10) A button in the bottom of the OIP for a Title Block to "Push Changes to Other Title Blocks". For example, say I have 10 sheet layers all set up. I later realize that I want 1/2" margins rather than 3/4" margins on all of them, and I also want to use a different Title Block symbol. Currently you'd have to go through each individual sheet layer and make the changes manually (perhaps the Eyedropper tool could help?), but it'd be much faster to just click a button in the OIP and have it automatically make those changes across all the similar Title Blocks. (Note that this shouldn't push Title Block data.)

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
4 minutes ago, BG said:

Would it not be worth simply replacing the sheet border tool with the VAA Title Block tool that Ozcad has created?  It seems like it already has the features being requested.

Just a thought.

 

This tool and it's capabilities are being weighed heavily in this discussion. However we want to take it even further than this tool does.

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1 hour ago, Andy Broomell said:

6) You should be able to right click a Title Block object and have the option to "Edit Title Block Symbol" - I often want to edit the original geometry in my Title Block and this would be faster than finding it manually in the Resource Browser. I'm sure some people rarely change the original geometry once their Title Block is set up, but the projects I do are so diverse that I often need to alter the Symbol itself, not just the content of the fields. (A simple example is sticking a show logo into the Title Block for each different production.)

 

Yes, please.

 

1 hour ago, Andy Broomell said:

7) Title blocks should support the new Record Field "Pop-up" option so that a field can be filled from a pre-determined list (such as "Preliminary", "Final", etc.)

 

This too.

 

Title blocks should also have easy ways to deal with a time/date stamp instead of the current Data Stamp workaround. And when I "Use As Title Block Only" I still want it pinned to a corner of a page and I want to be able to set how far it is from the page edges.

 

Kevin

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The record format for Issues and Revisions needs to be accessible in a Worksheet.

 

Currently the record formats look something like:

 

Rev_1   Description_1  etc

Rev_2   Description_2 etc

...

Rev_50 Description_50 etc.

 

So without manual entry or very complicated formulas there is no way to get the data into a worksheet. And certainly no way to use the 2-way feature of a simple record.field to allow editing of the data in the worksheet and having it flow back into the revisions.

 

Best in my mind would be to have multiple instances of a very simple record attached that could then be accessed from worksheets.

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It's been a while since I set up our titleblock, but I recall that using multiple fonts was problematic.  I ended up converting fonts to polylines to keep their appearance correct.  So - multiple font support.

 

Page margins and titleblocks are an on-going challenge for us.  We typically work on 24x36 size pages, but print check sets on 11x17 at 50%.  Our page margins are set up to accommodate the difference in paper size.  Whether we are printing at 100% or 50%, we would prefer to have the pdf scale from the center of the right hand side.  Currently, it scales from the center / middle of the drawing.  Our work around is to insert a loci in the titleblock symbol for check sets and then delete it once we get to construction drawings (so that the titleblock slides right to the edge of the page).  It's not an elegant solution. See Graphic.Screen Shot 2016-11-28 at 2.21.36 PM.png

 

I think the best solution would be to add the ability to scale pages in the "Publish>Options" window and then be able to control from which point the sheets are scaled i.e. eight choices including page corners and centers of each side.  So, while this isn't a direct change to the titleblock settings, the issue seems best brought up here.

 

 

Edited by Taproot
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No comment - Since moving away from stock Sheet Borders to VAA Titleblocks my world has been much happier.

 

Oops... missed the comment above about VAA being considered as a drop in replacement.

It seems to me like rolling plug-in styles to VAA Titleblocks would take care of most streamlining data entry and bring the important stuff front and centre.

 

In which case I think you should be looking for other more effective ways to improve the system like:-

 

- drawing co-ordination better viewport scales and titleblock

- Drawing co-ordination with North Points.

- Speed up/ automate drawing publication. 

- Better/ more pdf/export naming options based on information already in the title block.

 

 

Edited by Matt Overton
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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
6 minutes ago, benboggs said:

What are VAA title blocks?  

 

It is a Title Block plugin created by OzCAD, one of our distributors that I believe is integrated into their localized versions of Architect and Designer. 

 

On this page, scroll down a bit and there is an overview and other instructional videos about how it works: http://www.ozcad.com.au/training/training-videos.php

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On 11/28/2016 at 11:34 AM, JimW said:

Title Blocks! What about them is good? What about them is bad? We are considering some significant changes to how the Sheet Border/Title Block tools function and would like your input.

 

The following items have already been put forward as areas for improvement, either from internal feedback or feedback pulled from posts here:

 

1) Name the "Sheet Border" tool simply: "Title Block" since that's what it mainly does.

2) Move less commonly used parameters off of the OIP to reduce clutter, but move more commonly used settings from the dialog into the OIP.

3) Allow multi-line and automatically wrapping text fields.

4) Provide a preview window for Title Block Settings edits similar to Door, Window and Space Label previews.

5) Improve Issue Data and Revision Data entry. (Controls for numbering, increments, spacing and number of items shown)

 

There are other items we are considering as well, but the above seem to be the core focus. However, I would like to hear if anything significant was missed or if these areas are indeed what should be focused on. Thank you!

 

1) Yup.  

2) Yes please.  It's almost like the dialogs and the options should be reversed - with the sheet border options hidden behind a button, and the entry fields in the OIP.

3) Don't we already4) have multi-line fields?  #?  Yes on the wrapping.

4) Not high on my list, but sure.

5) !! This needs to be more than improved - it needs to be overhauled.  Right now - the way it works is backward.  Essentially right now, issues and revisions are attached to sheet borders.  The way this should work is that sheet borders are attached to issues.  More on that below:  

 

Glad to hear upgrades are in the works.

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The Link Text to Record is very clunky.

When designing a TB I would like to see my Record Format and Text Fields simultaneously. Perhaps even dragging from the RF field to the TB symbol.

 

The peculiar Class-PenStyle linkage between TB text font is a real oddity. TB text should appear as it is designed.

I do like how all TB formatting re-scales automatically based on the scaling factor;

I wish TB's would auto-scale to fit within the sheet border.

This may have been mentioned before - but I'd like a 'tag for print' on each TB, this could be aligned to the Saved Publish Sets.

I would also like TBs to automatically report the scale of Viewports on the Sheet (where there is one VP or all VPs have same scale, otherwise 'Varies', 'As Shown' etc)

 

 

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On 11/28/2016 at 2:35 PM, JimW said:

 

This tool and it's capabilities are being weighed heavily in this discussion. However we want to take it even further than this tool does.

2

I just watched those videos.  They still have the issue thing backward - but otherwise it is leaps and bounds better than the current sheet border tool.  Excited to see what even more improved would be. 

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8 hours ago, Tom Klaber said:

I just watched those videos.  They still have the issue thing backward - but otherwise it is leaps and bounds better than the current sheet border tool.  Excited to see what even more improved would be. 

 

Backwards how?

Mostly just curious as I've yet to come across a school of thought on Issues that VAA hasn't covered.

 

At times I think it gives too many options and should only do it the right way.

Edited by Matt Overton
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10 hours ago, Matt Overton said:

 

Backwards how?

Mostly just curious as I've yet to come across a school of thought on Issues that VAA hasn't covered.

 

At times I think it gives too many options and should only do it the right way.

 

The way I understood it is that the title blocks were the items holding the issue data.  Since I have not used it - I can not say for sure - but it looks like it suffers from the same problem .

So it looks like it is basically the same method as now - but with a much-improved dialog box - where you are batch creating individual issue records that are attached to the title block.  And that is the problem - the moment the batch issue is created - it is not one piece of data being shown in 50 places - it is now 50 pieces of unconnected data.   There is never a scenario where I want ISSUE 3 to be different on any sheet - and right now - since those records are not centrally controlled, it has the potential for error. 

 

The better way would be for the issue manager to be a centrally controlled database that contains, manages, and 'owns' the data - rather than the title blocks maintaining their independent records.  

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